1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to navigational systems, and more specifically, to navigational systems incorporating audio cues.
2. Background
In human-computer interfaces, a frequent issue is information overflow or overload. People have a limited capacity to sense information being presented to them, and with computers and other informational devices, the amount of data that can be simultaneously presented may overwhelm a typical user. More importantly, being presented with too much information can sometimes compromise safety, in certain circumstances.
When it comes to perception of our surroundings, seeing (vision) and hearing (auditory) are the two most important senses. Individuals often rely on vision for accurate and specific information, and on auditory senses for less precise information. Hearing frequently supplements vision to benefit a situation.
An example of a contemporary situation where a person uses both audio and visually senses is driving while using global positioning system (GPS) navigation. For a typical driver in this situation, the eyes are generally busy watching the road. With an onboard GPS navigation system turned on, the driver can become distracted if information from the navigational system is visual: maps, directions, routes, neighboring objects, and the like. To reduce this potential distraction, some automotive navigational systems provide audible turn-by-turn instructions, delivered to the driver by audio commands.
Other than maps and directions, additional auxiliary data are also available on some navigational systems, such as locations of particular landmarks, such as banks, schools, gas stations, hospitals, boat ramps, airports, restaurants, schools, points of interest and the like. However, in some navigational systems, these additional data can present information overload to users.